Decubitus ulcers, commonly known as bedsores, typically develop when a patient is required to spend a relatively long period of time recuperating in bed with a minimal amount of movement. Various different types of beds and mattresses have been designed to avoid the development of decubitus ulcers and/or to treat decubitus ulcers which have already developed. One known type of system uses a mattress containing an inflatable bladder arrangement with a number of separate zones, and a control unit which separately controls the pressure in each zone. While units of this type have been generally adequate for their intended purposes, they have not been satisfactory in all respects.
First, at least where there are a plurality of zones, the mattress unit is often an integral part of an entire bed, as opposed to a separate component which can be moved from bed to bed. Further, the mattress unit can be relatively difficult to clean, in that all air bladders must be individually removed and laundered, and can be damaged if laundered at the wrong temperature or by the wrong procedure. Moreover, the procedure required to program the unit for the needs of a particular patient can be relatively complex. Those who do not program such systems on a regular basis must refer to an instruction manual, and even then may not achieve optimum settings for the particular circumstances.
As a result of these considerations, hospitals typically do not purchase mattresses/beds of this type. Instead, when a doctor prescribes use of such equipment, the hospital contacts a local rental company which brings over an entire bed, puts it in place, sets it up, and programs it for the particular patient. When the patient's need for the better mattress is completed, the rental company comes and takes it away, and does the necessary maintenance and cleaning. At a large hospital doing a reasonable rental volume of such beds, it is not unknown for a full-time employee of the rental company to have an office at the hospital itself. A further consideration is that the control unit for the mattress is a relatively large unit which either sits on the floor, making it difficult to transport the bed because the control unit must be separately moved with the bed, or is mounted on a footboard of the bed, giving the bed and the control unit a combined length longer than the interior dimensions of existing elevators in the hospital.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an inflatable mattress system for avoiding or treating decubitus ulcers, which is easily transportable and does not include a bed as an integral part thereof.
It is a further object to provide such a mattress system which can be easily and quickly cleaned and sterilized by wiping the exterior with common antiseptics, and which can be easily and quickly set up and programmed without the use of a instruction manual and with little or no special training.
It is a further object to provide such a mattress system in which the mattress unit has a recess that receives the control unit, so that the control unit is within the overall envelope of the mattress shape, and in which a single simple connection arrangement is provided for operatively coupling the mattress unit and the control unit.
A further object is to provide such a mattress system having a separate small control panel which is flat and can be mounted on a footboard or side rail of the bed without interfering with maneuverability of the bed through hallways and elevators.
A further object of the invention is to provide such a mattress system in which the arrangement of keys and indicia on the control panel are substantially self-explanatory, to permit quick and accurate programming by a person who has limited training.
Still another object of the invention is to provide such a mattress system in which the control unit has wheels and a handle, and an arrangement is provided to support the control panel and the deflated mattress unit on the control unit for transport to or from a bed.